Harness actuated stop motion



March 29, 1949. H. J. CHERRY 2,465,575

HARNESS ACTUATED STOP MOTION Filed Oct. 2, 1946 JNVENTOR. H. J. CHERRY AT ORNEY Patented Mar. 29, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE -HARNESS ACTUATED: STOP MOTION Howard .LCherry, Sylacauga, Ala.

Applicatiori0ctolier 2, 1946, Serial No. 700,728

8 Claims.

This invention relates to J the production of woven fabrics and more particularly'to-loo'ms employed in the production of such fabrics and safety devices for attachment to looms-designed for automatically interrupting or stopping the operation of the loom when breakage or malfunction of the harness mechanism occurs.

I-Ieretofore when one of the operating connections for moving the harness up or down or the suspendin means for the harness became unduly slack or broken, the weaving operation would be interfered with and, in extreme cases, no merchantable cloth would be produced. Various devices for automatically stopping the operation of the loom when a breakage occurs have been employed in the past but these have been susceptible of various deficiencies including the failure to operate until a connection to the harness-frame was completely broken and greater or less amount of defective weaving had occurred.

It is an object of this invention to provide a harness actuated stop mechanism which will operate automatically to stop the operation of a loom as soon as a'harness connection becomes broken or unduly slack. I

It is a further object of this invention'to provide spring return means for the harness'frames in combination with an automatic stop motion device.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the followin description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatical front elevation of the harness and overhead operating means therefor, in combination with thestop motion device which is the subject of this invention;

Fig. 2, a perspective of the device;

Fig. 3, a side elevation of the device; and

Fig. 4, a front elevation showing a portion thereof in section.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Fig.1, a portion of a conventional loomis shown. This consists of 'a loom arm ID to which may be attached by means of another loom arm, not shown, pulleys H over which suspension means or connections l2 may pass to support harnesses l3. A shaft supporting portion I4 is made integral with the loom arm or may be attached thereto by suitable means.

Mounted in the shaft supporting portion [4 is a shaft IE on which is mounteda seriesof dogs or rocker arms IS. The dogs or rocker arms are generally comprised of an uppercurved section I1, a rear central section l8 and a lower section [9. Belts or straps 28 of the suspension-means 12 are seouredby bolts 2I.to the upper section of the rocker arms." As many harnesses may be suspended as there are rocker arms provided, therebeing only twoharnessesshown' in this case. The operating connections for drawing the harness frames down are not illustrated but may be of the conventional type. In the weaving operation the harness frames are normally raised and lowered to form the shed.

' The lower section of the rocker arms is adapted for holdin a strap or belt 22 by fastenin means such "as a nut and bolt 23. Attached to the lower end of the strap 22 are hooks 22' to which springs 24 may be attached; said springs may be fastened to a. bracket 25 which is in turn secured to the loom arm 10. It is readily apparent therefore that the downward movement of the harnesses i3 is transmitted by the suspension means or belts l2 to the rocker arms l6 and thence to the springs 24, the rocker arms turning on the shaft [5. Washers 26 may be placed adjacent-the outside faces of the dogs occupying the outside positions and cotter pins 21 secured in the shaft l 5 for retainin the washers and rocker arms in axial position.

Each rocker arm is provided with an arcuate opening or slot 28 through which a shaft or contactbar 29 may extend. Said shaft 29 is sup ported by an insulating bushing or sleeve 30 in the aforesaid shaft supporting portion ll of the loom arm Ill. The diameter of the shaft or contact bar 29 is less than the width of slot 28 so that it will not contact the sides of the slot. Slot 28 is an arcuate slot concentric with shaft l5.

An electrical contact 3| which is attached to a conductor or cable 32 may be secured to the contact bar 29 by a bolt 33.

The. conductor 32 extends from the contact bar 29 to an electric stop motion, not shown, which may be of the usual type. The circuit for the aforesaid stop motion includes the contact bar 29, contact .3I, conductor 32, the aforesaid electric stop motion, the loom arm N3, the shaft l5 and the rocker arms -Iii, In order for the circuit to be closed to operate the aforesaid electric stop motion, one or more of the rocker arms I6 must engage the contact bar 29. Inasmuch as the width of the slot 28 through which the contact bar 29 extends is greater than the diameter of the bar, contact between the bar and the rocker arms is only possible when the rocker arm rotates to either extreme of the slot. The movement of the-harnesses I3 is normally restricted sufiiciently that the rocker arms which are connected by strap 20 to the harnesses will not pivotally move to either extreme position of the slot and thus the contact bar during normal operationiwill' fail to touch either end of said slot; vIf, however, a breakage or undue slackeningof the suspending means I2 or 20 or breakage or malfunction of the strap 22 or springs 24 occurs. itais evident that the rocker arm to which said strap orspring isattached will be rotated beyond its normal extreme position. Such rota- 3 tion will bring contact bar 29 into engagement with one of the ends of the slot 28, thus closing the electrical circuit to the aforesaid electric stop motion, and stopping the machine.

A means for signalling a malfunction in the harness mechanism may also be actuated by the electrical circuit instead of or in conjunction with the electric stop motion. Such a means might be visible such as a signal light or audible such as a bell or other noisemaking device.

A bracket or support 34 is secured to the shaft holding portion M of the loom arm by means of the set screws 35 and 36. Set screw 35 extends through the upper portion of bracket 34 and a portion of the shaft holding portion l4 until it contacts the insulating bushing 30" which surrounds the contact bar 29. Similarly, set screw 36 extends through the central portion of bracket 34 and shaft holding portion 14 to contact the shaft 15. Jam nuts 31 and 38 are used in coordination with the aforesaid set screws in order to provide a more secure holding means for the bracket 34 and to more securely position the shafts 29 and I5.

A collar 39 is attached to the lower portion of the bracket 34 by welding or other desirable means. Supported in the collar is a shaft or stop bar 40 which is held in position by a set screw M. In the event that not all of the operating arms are desired to be used those which are idle may rest on the shaft 40.

Although the device is illustrated in combination with one type of loom, it is obvious that its application is not so limited but may be applied to any loom in which the movement of a harness frame is controlled by linkage means to which the device of my invention may be attached.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A loom arm having a shaft supporting portion, a shaft supported by said shaft supporting portion, rocker arms pivotally carried by said shaft and each rocker arm being provided with a central section having a slot therein and upper and lower sections, one or more straps for suspending loom harnesses, means for attaching said straps to each of said upper sections, one or more springs for opposing the operation of said harnesses, a bracket attached to said loom arm for holding said springs, a second set of straps for linking said springs with said rocker arms, means for attaching a strap of said second set to each of said lower sections of said rocker arms, a contact bar mounted in and insulated from said shaft holding portion, an electrical contact attachedto said contact bar, a conductor attached to said electrical contact, a bracket attached to said loom arm, a collar attached to said bracket, and a shaft mounted in said collar, said shaft being designed for the support of one or more of said rocker arms.

2. In a device of the character described a plurality of rocker arms, harnesses, means connecting the harnesses to said rocker arms and tending to cause movement of said rocker arms in one direction, means attached to said rocker arms and opposing the movement of said arms caused by said harnesses, and means to actuate an elec- 4 trical circuit when any one of said rocker arms moves to an abnormal position.

3. In a device of the character described a plurality of rocker arms, harnesses, straps connecting the harnesses to said rocker arms and tending to cause movement of said rocker arms in one direction, spring means attached to said rocker arms and opposing the movement of said arms by said harnesses, and means to actuate an electrical circuit when one or more of said straps or springs fails to oppose the action of the other thus resulting in movement of any one of said rocker arms to an abnormal position.

4. In a device of the character described, in combination with a loom, a series of rocker arms, harnesses connected to one or more of said arms, means tending to move each of said harness connected arms in one direction, means tending to move each of said harness connected arms in the contrary direction, and means to stop the loom upon failure of either of said means resulting in movement of any one of said arms to an abnormal position.

5. In a device of the character described, a plurality of rocker arms having arcuate slots formed therein, a bar passing through said slots, said bar normally being out of contact with said rocker arms, and electrical means adapted to be actuated upon engagement of any one of said rocker arms with said bar.

6. In a device of the character described, a plurality of rocker arms having arcuate slots therein, harnesses, straps connecting the harnesses to said rocker arms and tending to cause movement of said rocker arms in one direction, means attached to said rocker arms and opposing the movement of said arms caused by said harnesses, a bar passing through said slots, electrical connections attached to said bar, and means whereby an electrical circuit will be actuated when said bar contacts the surface defining any one or more of said slots.

' 7. In a device of the character described, a plurality of rocker arms, loom harnesses attached to certain of said arms only, means provided to close an electrical circuit when any one of said arms moves to an abnormal position, and a stop bar for engagement with the rocker arms not having harnesses attached to them in order that said arms will be maintained in a normal position.

8. In a device of the character described, a plurality of rocker arms having slots therein, harnesses attached to certain of said rocker arms,

other of said rocker arms remaining idle, a contact bar passing through said slots but normally out of engagement with the defining surfaces thereof, and a stop bar to support said idle rocker arms out of engagement with the contact bar.

HOWARD J CHERRY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,445,629 Lavoie Feb. 20, 1923 1,528,477 Grant Mar. 3, 1925 1,534,127 Magnano Apr. 21, 1925 1,972,025 Matton Aug. 28, 1934 2,091,718 Rocheleau Aug. 31, 1987 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 248,857 Great Britain Mar. 18, 1926 

